


Code Starling

by SpookshowBabyx



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/F, Frenemies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23630506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookshowBabyx/pseuds/SpookshowBabyx
Summary: Retired from her days of saving the world, Kim Possible has become a psychology major by day and cheerleader by night, living in a sorority house on campus with life just as she'd like it: Ordinary.Enter Shego; a name Kim had hoped she'd left in the past, who shows up unannounced with an unexpected request for help and a troubling story to tell.Rated M for future chapters.
Relationships: KiGo - Relationship, Kim Possible/Shego
Comments: 16
Kudos: 88





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi! So, my bid to complete my ongoing fics to allow more time for on my own writing is evidently off to a great start... I've written a lot on here for Once Upon a Time, as well as some House, and had vowed not to get sucked into any more fandoms or stories, but ...here I am! In my defence, Kigo isn't exactly a 'new' fandom for me, as it was the first pairing (if only in my own head, as I thought at the time) I'd ever really considered, and it's one of my all-time favourites, meaning that when I woke up this morning with a sudden urge to start a new story, I decided to go with it rather than choosing the more sensible option of working on the hundred-and-one things I SHOULD be doing instead.
> 
> So, I guess, hi from me- it's been years since I've written a new pairing and I'm not sure how to introduce myself!- and I hope you enjoy this fic :)
> 
> Reviews would be awesome! :)

"Are you serious, Sam?"

Kim raises a brow as she strives to keep a straight face; staring down her housemate as the blonde nods emphatically.

"I'm _serious_! Professor Kinsley gave us until next week to finish the assignment. Why would I _lie_? I need you to get yours done so I can copy!"

Sam protests, her butt sunk deep into the purple beanbag Kim's parents bought her last Christmas. She wears a neatly pleated skirt and matching crop top in the college's colours; dark green with gold trim. The same uniform that Kim herself would be wearing if she wasn't suffering a splitting headache.

"I'm not saying you're _lying_ , I'm saying leniency isn't exactly something Mr K is known for!"

Kim muses, offering Sam a small smirk as she recalls numerous pop-quizzes and projects sprung upon their class without warning. In spite of the rather sly nature of these tests, she has so far managed to keep her grades consistently high, but this is a fact she has kept to herself in fear of being seen as a know-it-all by the rest of the girls in the house. The fact that they like to tease her for her stint of fame as a teenager is something she takes easily in her stride and can laugh along with, but she'd like to keep her notable talent in the classroom under wraps just the same.

"I think he's seeing someone. That's the _only_ reason I can think of to explain why the K-Monster might be in such a giving mood."

Sam grins; hazel eyes scanning the various posters on Kim's walls before focusing her attention back on her friend.

"Iris and Gabby are heading down to the pier for iced coffee and cake. Well... Cake for Gabby, Iris is still on her weird diet."

"It's not a weird diet. She's _coeliac_."

"She doesn't eat pop-tarts. That's _weird_."

Sam states with an air of finality, causing Kim to chuckle.

"You think _anyone_ not stuffing their face full of junk food is _weird_!"

"I do... So? You coming?"

"Next time."

"Spoilsport... Are you still feeling crappy?"

"A little. I feel much better than I did, but I'm probably just going to jump in the shower and get caught up on my reading for English as I missed class this morning."

"I'm sure Anna Karenina can wait, KP."

"I'm sure she can, but Thursday's are Luke's shift at Cuppa Joe's and I already _have_ a pounding headache."

Kim grimaces dramatically, and Sam nods, pulling a face.

"You two still haven't spoken to each other since you caught him kissing Laura?"

"No... I'm not sure there's much to _talk_ about. We weren't 'dating' dating. Not yet."

"Yeah, but the guy's been giving you free drinks since freshman year! That's, like... Code."

Sam insists, earning herself another eyebrow raise and half-grin from Kim.

"Apparently not. It doesn't matter, I'm over it... Just not to the point where I want to sit on the pier watching him and Laura suck face while I pretend to be weirdly enthralled by a seagull."

"I can buy that."

The blonde nods with a smile.

"What about that other guy? Your friend that came to stay the first week we were back? He was kind of cute... In a dorky way, anyway."

"Ron?!"

"Yeah. He seems nice."

"He is... But, we're better as friends."

"Oh?"

"We were together... Sort of... When I was a kid, but it got too complicated once I decided to study out here and he started his internship on the East Coast. We tried the whole long-distance thing, but it just didn't work. I guess when you're used to spending all of your time with someone, it can be a totally different relationship once you're on other sides of the country."

"I guess so."

"Plus, he was my partner, you know? Back when I was still doing all the saving the world stuff. When I decided to leave that behind and just go to college like a _normal_ person, it was hard to know what to talk about that wasn't killer robots and resurrected mummies."

"Man, you're so weird."

Sam giggles, and Kim sighs as she pushes herself up and swings her legs off the bed; pushing back her hair as she considers this accusation pensively.

"I started to feel that way, which is why I quit."

"I know... Things have changed, anyway. You never hear about that crazy stuff anymore. There's a group that meets at the Caf on Tuesday nights to discuss why that might be. Some of the conspiracy buffs from the world politics major. You should go."

"I think I'll pass."

Kim grins.

"Shame. You'd be kind of like a celebrity to them."

"I'm good. I'm much happier just being part of the cheer team and helping Donna with her yearbook stuff. I can't see a _single_ negative thing about the fact that the number of evil whack-jobs seems to have plummeted over the last couple of years."

"Yeah... Now we just have _regular_ evil to contend with."

Sam sighs, pointing to the front cover of one of Kim's textbooks emblazoned with a photograph of the White House.

"And I've never been happier _not_ to be involved with something!"

Kim assures with a shudder. She watches as Sam struggles to work her way out out of the beanbag; chuckling when the blonde resorts to simply rolling out onto the floor.

"Graceful."

"Thank you."

Sam smirks, smoothing down her skirt and wiggling her fingers as she bids Kim adieu.

"Is Rachel back from her swim-meet?"

Kim asks as she pushes herself from the bed and begins stripping out of her pyjama shorts and t-shirt.

"Nope. She's gone to stay with Bryan. You have the house to yourself, Girl Wonder."

Sam calls as she pads down the hall, and Kim rolls her eyes, yelling back

"Don't _call_ me that!"

"Sorry, KP."

Comes the giggled reply as Sam makes her way down the stairs in a series of remarkably heavy thuds for one of the best flyers their team has seen in years. Shaking her head, Kim waits for the sound of the others to make their way out into the brisk winter sun before padding down the hall to one of the house's two bathrooms in her underwear. Cranking the tap to initiate a splutter from the shower, she waits for the water to heat up before stripping bare and stepping beneath the spray; closing her eyes as her fiery hair is drenched dark auburn. Steam begins to fill the room as she twists the dial just a little further clockwise, and she reaches for her bottle of shampoo with a frown when it feels suspiciously light.

"Gabby..."

She grumbles beneath her breath as her attempts to coax a final squirt of shampoo from the bottle prove unsuccessful. Tossing it in the direction of the trash once she accepts defeat, she helps herself to Sam's coconut scented Herbal Essence and works up a rich lather before rinsing and applying a generous splat of conditioner. She feels a lot better than she had this morning now that she's cleaned herself up and forced herself out of bed, and she stands beneath the warm water for a couple of minutes simply enjoying its heat on her skin.

When the water begins to cool- one of the others presumably having showered not too long ago- she shuts off the shower and steps out onto the fluffy blue mat that centres the rather hideous tiles that have started to chip in places. Still, for the most part, the house- Gamma Sigma Pi- has been nicely kept, and she knows she's lucky to enjoy such a nice place to call home, especially since visiting Monique's dorms over in Houston which had been about half the size with the majority of the walls painted an alarming shade of magenta.

_Need to email her and see how she's doing._

Kim muses distractedly as she dries her hair roughly with her towel, before wrapping it around her slim frame. Drawing a heart in the condensation that has collected on the mirror, she picks up her discarded underwear with a frown as she is certain she hears a door open and close down below.

_Maybe Rachel changed her mind._

She reasons, hoping that if this _is_ the case, Rachel hasn't invited Bryan back to theirs to indulge in the awful wailing she considers music. Listening out for voices in the kitchen or lounge she is met with silence, and she wonders if maybe she'd been mistaken in thinking she'd heard anything at all.

A conclusion that seems all the more likely as she makes her way back to her room without catching so much as a peep from anywhere else in the house.

_Must be imagining things. Must be-_

But she stops dead in her tracks once she's taken a couple of steps into her room; sensing that she's not alone, before whirling around to face her intruder head-on.

"Afternoon, Princess... Nice towel."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know the show ends with these two calling a truce and Shego and Drakken opting to side with good, which may not be apparent here. This will be addressed with time :)
> 
> Please review and happy reading!

"Shego!?"

Kim shrieks, only narrowly resisting the urge to rub her eyes like a character in a kid's cartoon, as though doing so might cause the woman perched on her bed to disappear.

"Kimmie."

Shego replies, her teeth bared in a sly smirk as her gaze falls to the baby-pink towel her one-time nemesis clutches primly to her chest.

"What the hell are you _doing_ here?!"

Kim demands, wondering a second later not just _what_ Shego might be doing in her dorm, but also _how_ she's managed to find her in the first place.

"Thought you might like a visit. Catch a movie and share a sundae."

Shego replies sarcastically, unsurprised when her teasing is met with an irritable glower and little inclination that the redhead is pleased to see her.

 _Little inclination? Try_ no _inclination._

_Really, Kimmie... I'm almost offended..._

The older woman grins, not bothered in the slightest by Kim's cool reception.

"What do you _want_ , Shego?"

Kim growls, not in the mood to deal with the crap she'd endured for most of her teens at the hands of the woman smirking up at her.

"Well, let's _start_ with you putting some clothes on. Not that I'm not _fascinated_ to see you all grown up!"

Shego smiles coldly, and Kim narrows her eyes as she snatches a pair of jeans and a hoody from her wardrobe before disappearing back down the hall to get changed. She returns a few seconds later; not wishing to leave the raven-headed woman unattended amongst her things for any longer than absolutely necessary.

_She has no business here. Not in my new life..._

Closing the door behind her with a pointed thud, Kim leans against it with her arms crossed over the soft swell of her chest as she waits for an explanation.

"You shouldn't pout like that, Princess, what if the wind changes?"

"I-"

"-And, shame!"

"What?"

"Your... Outfit? I mean, it's hardly cat-walk stylish, but it could _pass_ as acceptable... Is it weird that I kind of _miss_ the hideous cargo pants?"

Shego wrinkles her nose, and Kim sighs as she offers the older woman a withering look.

"Like _you_ can talk."

She replies snidely, although she drinks in Shego's chosen attire curiously as she does so; so used to obnoxious green neon that she finds herself almost _unsettled_ facing the older woman in the black jeans and soft V-neck sweater she currently wears. She looks alarmingly, well, _normal_ , aside from the peculiar shade of her skin and the vampish smear of her lipstick which is still the same velvety midnight Kim remembers.

"We all make mistakes when it comes to fashion, pumpkin."

Shego shrugs, and while her tone _could_ be mistaken for boredom, it strikes Kim as closer to weariness, and she frowns as she takes a couple of tentative steps into the room and perches on the chair beside her desk while studying the darker woman with mounting unease.

 _She looks tired... Drawn. When have I_ ever _seen Shego look tired?..._ Exasperated _, sure, I mean she worked for_ Drakken _for christ's sake, but exhausted like she looks now?... Never._

No, never, and, it's not just the raven-headed woman's demeanour that lends Kim a sense of dubiety. Now that she's sat closer to her, she spies a shallow graze to the underside of Shego's jaw, and a healing bruise decorating her left cheekbone. She imagines others might attempt to hide such injuries using makeup, but the delicate green tinge to her old foe's complexion must make obscuring any imperfections difficult.

"What do you want, Shego?"

She asks again with a little less venom this time.

"...Help."

The older woman replies finally; plunging them both into a long and uneasy silence.

* * *

"...Help?"

Kim asks after what feels like twenty minutes. She imagines it's actually closer to two or three, but this logic offers her little comfort. She's moved from the chair back to the door, and she opens it to peer out and check for certain that they have the house to themselves, before closing it gently and turning the key in the lock for only the second time since she's lived here.

"Help with what?"

She pushes when Shego remains silent, and she's on the verge of losing her patience when the older woman asks her what seems like a decidedly strange question.

"... Do you know?"

"... Do I know what?"

"Do you know what they're doing?"

"Who?"

"... I don't know."

Shego replies moodily, pushing her long hair out of her face and meeting Kim's irritation with a visible dose of her own.

"Well, how does _that_ help _either_ of us?"

Kim demands, waiting for Shego to snap back as has always been her way, but the darker woman merely glowers at her before dropping her attention to the redhead's paisley bedspread.

"I don't know."

Shego repeats eventually, glancing up at Kim morosely before elaborating

"I don't know any names, and I don't _entirely_ know what's going on. All I have is this."

She leans to one side in order to wrestle what looks like a business card out of the back pocket of her jeans before handing it over. Kim takes it while doing her best to keep her distance; finding it un _likely_ that the darker woman might use this opportunity to take a swing at her, but she'd rather not take any chances.

"What is it? Where did you get it?"

Kim asks, entirely clueless where this all might be going as she looks from the card in her palm to the woman on her bed. The card has been printed on thick, white paper, and bears no decipherable words, just a series of numbers and the dark grey silhouette of what looks like an eagle.

"Shego?"

Silence, and Kim frowns as she turns the card over in her hand with a sharp intake of breath as she spies several maroon fingerprints dappling the paper. Looking back up at Shego, she flashes the darker woman her discovery.

"Blood?! This is _blood_ , Shego. What the _hell_ have you been up to?!"

"Nothing!"

"Don't barge in on my life just to _lie_ to me! I know blood when I see it! I-"

"-Well _whoop_ -de-do for you! I never said it _wasn't_ blood, so quit with the attitude."

"I-"

"-It's _mine_. Okay?"

"... Yours?"

Kim replies uncertainly, not sure how else to respond. After all, they might have fought one another tooth and nail for a good number of years, but she'd hardly say that what she feels about holding an item smeared in the older woman's blood is ' _okay_ '.

"Mine."

Shego agrees, and when she senses that this affirmation has left Kim floundering for a response, she sighs and leans forward with her head cocked to the side; pulling midnight curls out of the way to expose an ugly wound to the soft flesh behind her ear.

"...Jeez, Shego."

Kim breathes, and for a moment she appears to have forgotten the many times the older woman has struck out at her as she steps closer and leans in to inspect Shego's injury for herself. The sides of the wound are ragged and uneven, and she furrows her brow as she strives to think of anything that might cause such destruction.

"...What happened?"

She asks, touching the reddened skin surrounding the laceration gently and wondering if the darker woman has been foolish in not getting herself some stitches when the wound was fresh.

 _It's still_ fairly _fresh_ now _! And she might not_ know _how bad it is; she wouldn't be able to see..._

A reasonable argument, but Kim nibbles her lip uncertainly as she's not sure what to make of this assumption.

She _might not be able to see the mess back there, but someone else would have been able to tell her. Someone she'd be more_ likely _to approach than_ me _! Drakken would have been able to tell her she needed to get this seen to. He-_

But she finds her thoughts trailing off as a highly unpalatable thought follows the rest.

"Shego... Did Drakken..."

She doesn't finish her query out loud, and she doesn't need to. Thick waves tumble down over the ragged cut as Shego shakes her head with an expression of open disdain.

"Of _course_ not."

She snaps.

"Like that blue idiot could _ever_ get one over on me... Like he'd _want_ to!"

She tags on as an afterthought, shrugging slim shoulders for good measure.

"But, then-"

"-I don't know where Dr D _is_."

Shego interrupts, something a little off in her tone. Green eyes finding Kim's, she allows the younger woman to study familiar features nakedly for a moment, before continuing without any hint of her usual sarcasm

"I don't know where _anyone_ is."

"What do you mean?"

"They're all gone. My brothers, Dr D, that daft simian asshole."

"I don't... I don't understand. What do you _mean_ they're _gone_?"

"Exactly _that_! I... They're... I don't _know_!"

Shego snaps, her hand disappearing into her hair as she fingers the wound behind her ear tentatively.

"...Who cut you?"

Kim asks, presuming that this is something the darker woman _can_ at least answer.

And she's correct, although Shego's response comes as a shock.

"I did."

" _You_ did that?!"

"I _had_ to. I had to get it out."

"Get _what_ out?!"

"The chip. They put a _chip_ in me. It sounds crazy, I know, but they _did._ I couldn't keep it _in_ , who _knows_ what information it was giving them."

" _Who_?!"

"I don't _know_!"

Shego all but shouts, but her fury seems entirely born from distress and Kim remains stood where she is without making a move to defend herself.

Looking away, Shego sighs.

"The guy that must've inserted the chip; he had that card. There were others, too."

"Other guys or other cards?"

"Both, but only one guy I got a look at- and a _punch_ or two on- before I got free. I think they were expecting me to be out of it longer than I was, but I surprised them. I grabbed that card on my way out of the building... It was... Like a _shed_ almost, but hooked up with tech... Not the kind of place Dr D and I would rig up. Not even the stuff some of the other guys- the less whacko guys- would set up as a temporary home office. This was all hush-hush with everything coded, which _you_ know as well as _I_ do isn't how any of us lot worked. For us, it was all about the show- the _drama_ \- and fucking peacocking between that bunch of malevolent idiots."

"Idiots _you_ offered your services to."

Kim chips in before she can help herself, but she receives little more than a small nod of acceptance as Shego continues uneasily

"This was the _real_ shit, Kimmie. This wasn't playtime."

"I wouldn't call the rest of it ' _play_ time'..."

The redhead frowns, looking rather offended, and Shego rolls her eyes as she reminds the younger woman impatiently

"I'm sure it wasn't for a _teenager._ It wasn't _exactly_ a song and dance for me _either,_ bunking with whichever fool fancied himself as running the show, but we both knew the _moves_. We knew our _roles_. If we hadn't of, _you'd_ be _dead_ , Princess, and I'd be fighting off the weirdos in jail. I'm not saying it was all _pretend_ , I'm saying it was all for _show:_ your heroic deeds, and my dastardly ones. We had _lairs_ , not sheds, and _you_ got most of your intel from an agoraphobic _pre_ teen through a _watch_... This wasn't _like_ that, _okay_? I've had a pretty eventful career considering my age, and it's included a substantial amount- an _embarrassing_ amount- of being kidnapped and shut inside all manner of weird and wonderful contraptions... This wasn't a _first_ for me, but it _was_ the first time I felt some genuine fear. It _was_ the first time someone drugged me and _chipped_ me when that chip wasn't some crazy invention designed by one of the men in either of our lives. And, it was _definitely_ the first time where I felt that I needed to _mutilate_ myself just to be on the safe side... Because they're all _gone_! And _I_ don't want to be next! I want to find out what the hell's going on, but _not_ by playing unwilling participant! This is _real_... Otherwise, I wouldn't _be_ here right now... Or do you _really_ think I have nothing better to do than spend my evening with the most _insufferable_ person I've ever met?"

"Likewise."

Kim nods in response to Shego's irritable final point, and she stands with her hands on her hips as she studies the darker woman with a worried frown. She doesn't bother asking Shego to repeat herself in hopes of corroborating any of the older woman's admittedly vague details as she believes her fully, much to her genuine surprise. She's fairly certain that there might be more to the part of the story concerning Shego's escape, but the grazes to the darker woman's face fill in some of the blanks and she's not sure she wants to hear the rest. After all, as Shego had said, they'd once each known their roles and had played accordingly. There had been a time- a _long_ time- when she'd considered the older woman one of her arch-foes, and _the_ most vexing thorn in her side of all of the maniacs she'd had the misfortune to face, but she would never have wished to see Shego get hurt if not simply due to one of their scraps, or as the result of one of Drakken's misguided inventions. Similarly, whenever things had really come down to the wire, she's fully aware that the darker woman had made a habit of- begrudgingly!- seeing it as her duty to make sure both she and Ron came out alive.

 _Hellishly mocked and_ aggravated _... But alive._

"When did this happen?"

Kim asks finally, once more taking a seat on her chair as she meets Shego's green glare with her own stern expression.

"Last I remember before waking up, I was leaving nightschool in West Linn, Oregon on Tuesday."

" _Night_ school? What were you doing _there_?"

"Never you _mind_ what I was doing! You asked me a question and I answered it."

Shego snaps, and Kim raises a brow but decides to let the matter lie.

_At least for the time being..._

"So, what, you came around and ran?"

"I came around, I _punched_ , and then I ran."

"Where to?"

"... Here."

"I-"

"-I got my car, I waited around outside my apartment so I could grab my cat- I'm not stupid enough to risk going _in_ \- dropped her off at a kennel on the way, and came here."

"...Your cat?"

Kim frowns, trying to make sense of this unlikely piece of information.

"Yes. My cat."

Shego snaps with a glacial expression, and Kim raises her palms in a parody of begging for truce and pulls her legs up in front of her on the chair.

"Okay... But, how did you even know where to _find_ me?... Are you still keeping _tabs_ on me?!"

"No. I have _better_ things to do, I _told_ you... Facebook. How does anybody find _anyone_!?"

" _You_ have _Facebook_?"

"And _you_ don't have adequate privacy settings... You know, Princess, I'm not _often_ shocked, but uncovering that degree of idiocy did come close."

"Noted, and back at you with; you have _Facebook_."

"I think you're getting hung up on the wrong part of my story."

Shego sighs, and Kim nods reluctantly as she pulls her hair over her shoulder and braids it before it can dry funny.

"Okay, yeah. Sorry... When, uh... When did you do _that_?"

She asks, pointing to her own ear to mimic the location of the raven-headed woman's wound.

"Before I left. Like I said, I'm not an _idiot_."

"No... Well, _I_ don't know. What the hell did you even _use_?"

"A pairing knife."

" _Ohhh!_ "

Kim scrunches her face up as she shudders, sticking her tongue out for good measure, before tying off her braid and asking hesitantly

"And you're sure that's _it_ , right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're sure the chip behind your ear is all that was done to you while you were out? There's nothing _else_ that could give you away or anything?"

The younger woman asks, and Shego touches her hand to the tender flesh behind her ear with a frown.

"It's the only place that _felt_ weird... I mean, I grabbed what I'm wearing from my locker at the gym as I always keep some stuff spare in there. I had a quick shower- more to appease my mind than anything else; regaining consciousness lying on some bed you don't know isn't exactly chicken soup for the soul-... I didn't notice anything."

Her tone is dismissive, but her expression is shadowed with a hint of uncertainty, and Kim raises a brow as she points out

"They'd probably not do it any place you'd see it."

"... So, what are you suggesting?"

Shego demands woodenly, the hardness of her glare suggesting that she knows all too _well_ where this is going.

"I'm _suggesting_ we play things _safe_ , seeing as you've come running to me from god knows where, after being chipped by god knows who, and I _don't_ fancy getting myself nor my housemates involved in anything _crazy_! I'm _done_ with all that!"

Kim hisses, her cheeks glowing scarlet as she sits back and waits for Shego to commence with the obvious conclusion to their hellishly awkward conversation.

"... Fuck."

The darker woman grunts finally; pushing herself from the bed with her jaw clenched and eyes glittering pure murder as she makes swift work of pulling her sweater and tank top over her head before wrestling with her jeans. Pushing rough denim down slender legs, she offers Kim a warning glance before holding her hair back with one hand while the other hovers uncertainly out to her side. Shuffling around in her jeans to allow the younger woman a full inspection of her slender form, she takes in a sharp breath through her nose as she stands with her back- _and ass, don't forget that absolute_ gem _to the equation!_ \- to Kim, feeling the onset of a migraine throbbing between her temples.

"Satisfied?"

She scoffs, and Kim clears her throat which suddenly feels very dry as she drinks in impossibly pale flesh, taut muscle, and simple black lace.

"...I can't see anything concerning."

Kim replies with a slight croak, and Shego yanks her jeans back up with a smirk cast over her shoulder.

"What about anything you _like_?"

She teases, and she is met with a disdainful glower that does little to draw attention away from the scarlet hue of the younger woman's cheeks.

Raising a brow to match the pull of her lips, Shego takes a seat back on the bed with her arms crossed and elbows rested on her knees; leaning forward to meet Kim's dubious gaze with ease.

"So... Am I safe to be around?"

She asks, and the younger woman sighs as she tears her attention away from her once sworn enemy's cleavage and shakes her head.

" _Never_ in the time that I've known you, no... But, it doesn't look like they've implanted anything else. At least not anywhere I'm willing to _look_."

"The night is young, Princess."

Shego baits, and ordinarily, she might have been able to rouse another bout of stammering in response, but her shit-eating grin doesn't quite hide her exhaustion, and Kim simply stares her down before handing the darker woman her sweater.

"The night hasn't even _begun_... Have you eaten?"

"...No."

"Come on. You should."

Kim sighs as she pushes herself up and fetches her coat from the back of the door.

"... So, you'll help me?"

Shego asks, careful to keep her face expressionless as she pulls her curls out from the back of her sweater.

"I'll let you treat me to a late lunch, and I still have some questions... We'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Enjoy! Please review :)

"Not this place."

Kim states firmly as she and Shego make their way down the pier. It's an exceptionally strange feeling, leading her one-time foe through campus and out to the shore; walking beside her silently with her attention focused straight ahead. Now, she offers the darker woman a stern expression as Shego studies her curiously.

"How come?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not an answer, Princess."

"Well, it's all you're getting. Come on, there's a pizza place a little further down."

"Ugh, what _is_ it with you and junk food? Is that a teenager thing, or just down to the fact you have appalling taste?"

"It's good pizza, several critics have said so. And I'm twenty-one, and offering you a lot more faith than you _deserve_ , so maybe shut up and play nice. What do you think?"

Kim grumbles, shaking her head irritably when her grumpy response is met with a smirk, and she leads them on a little further, away from the black and white store-front of Cuppa Joe's, and into the warm glow and cheesy aroma of Slice of Sicily.

"Table for two?"

A stocky boy with slicked-back hair asks, and Kim nods, trying to keep the fact that this all feels a little surreal from her expression. Thanking him when he leads them to a table and hands them each a menu, she raises a brow when his gaze lingers for a moment on Shego, before the darker woman's icy stare sends him swiftly on his way.

"I think you have an admirer."

Kim grins, and Shego diverts her cold apathy onto her companion with a dramatic sigh.

"No, but _thank_ you... It's always hard to tell, anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, much as I'm sure it might _shock_ you to imagine not all attention focused on me is of the revering and lustful variety-"

"-Not in the slightest, but go on-"

"-Being green invites its own fascination. Sometimes it's hard to know if you're the star of the show or the clown."

"... I guess so."

Kim frowns, never having considered this before. She supposes she'd never really been granted with the opportunity; she and Shego very far from being on the sorts of friendly terms where the darker woman might share such thoughts, and forever on the receiving end of her arrogant sarcasm.

It had simply never _occurred_ to her to wonder if looking different might make life hard for Shego sometimes.

"Is that why you mainly worked with Drakken?"

She asks as she places her menu face down on the table, already knowing what she's going to order: stuffed crust, large, with pepperoni and pineapple.

"Is _what_ why I mainly worked for Drakken?"

Shego replies, frowning at the selection offered by her own menu.

"Well, I mean, he's blue, you're green... I was just wondering, given what you just said, if that came into you favouring him at all."

"What are you, _five_?"

"I just-"

"-Shit, Kimmie, life's not all about what you learnt in preschool. The fact that Dr D isn't your average Joe neither starts nor _ends_ with the fact he's, what I liked to call, a little blue. He'd be a nutjob _whatever_ shade he was!"

"But you-"

" _-But_ , he made me laugh. Not a lot of the others could do that. True, it was mostly at his expense, but I don't see how that matters. I worked for Drakken because of all of the in- _between_ stuff. The fiddly bits before you'd show up and _ruin_ everything. He'd be ranting and raving about some invention or devious plot or other, but he'd always remember to have one of his men get me a coffee while doing so. He paid me decent overtime, and I don't think using my charm ever occurred to him- I don't think the fact that I _had_ charm ever occurred to him- until the very end of our career together, and that made a nice change from some of the others that just wanted a piece of eye-candy with lock-picking skills and a lethal punch."

"So modest."

"I know. That was a very watered-down summary of my _many_ talents."

Shego smirks.

"Yeah, you left out your ability to annoy the _crap_ out of people."

Kim grumbles.

"Mostly you... And I suppose that was the issue with the approach the other guys tended to favour. Sure, I could lure in whatever millionaire or business tycoon they wanted to exploit, but they never seemed to _get_ that it wasn't the guy with the big bucks that would come swooping in to spoil the party. It was _you_. My inarguable allure was thus _wasted_."

The raven-headed woman sighs, and Kim nods with a purposefully bemused expression; absolutely _not_ thinking about black lace against pale flesh.

_Nope. What the hell!? Totally, not._

"Can I take your order?"

Slick comes back to ask, and Kim orders her usual before watching curiously as Shego orders a Caesar salad with a request that he leave out the chicken accompanying the dish on the menu. More specifically, she watches the waiter's mannerisms, and notes for the first time since she's known the darker woman that perhaps others _do_ look at her a little funny after all.

"...Definitely the clown."

Shego growls when Slick leaves, as though reading Kim's mind, and the younger woman shrugs uncomfortably and insists

"I really don't think most people _care_."

"I can assure you they _do_... I can also assure you that _I_ don't."

The darker woman sniffs, and her hand disappears into her hair to touch the wound behind her ear for just a second- just long enough for Kim to feel a twinge of pity- before she plays once more true to character and backs the younger woman into a proverbial corner with a grin.

"So... Why are we here?"

"What do you mean? You said you hadn't eaten, and you've presumably lost a fair bit of blood. It seemed like a good idea that we-"

"-Oh, I agree with the plan to get some food, if that is indeed what this place is going to rustle up. I agree _less_ with your naive assumption that I'm going to pay for it."

"You-"

"-But, what I _meant_ was, why are we here, destined to chow down on grease and cheese, when we passed a perfectly good cafe with a menu that looked rather more edible?"

"I wanted pizza."

"You know, you're a _terrible_ liar, Kimmie? Always have been, at least to me."

"I can think of _several_ times when you bought into what I told you just _fine_."

"And I can think of many _more_ times when I simply _pretended_ to in the hope that you might spice up my afternoon."

"I-"

"-So, go on. Tell me the truth... What's wrong with that _Joe's_ place? I doubt it's the coffee..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, because I refuse to believe _you'd_ know the difference between good or bad coffee if you were forced to _bathe_ in the stuff, and your disinclination to answer my question just stinks of this being about a boy..."

The older woman smirks cruelly; still looking tired and pale, but masking it well with the sharp flash of her teeth.

Weighing up her options, Kim sighs; once again struck by how obscure her afternoon has become as she consents to a guarded discussion about her love-life with the woman who had once relished being dubbed her greatest adversary.

"I was dating one of the baristas. Sort of. It wasn't a big deal, and we never put a label on it, but for all intents and purposes, that's what we were doing... I caught him with someone else."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but it's whatever."

"Clearly not, or we would be drinking coffee and eating bagels instead of... This."

Shego finishes with a wrinkle to her nose as the waiter comes back with their meals. He interrupts the conversation to ask if they want any pepper or chilli oil, only for the darker woman to shoo him away with an irritable flick of her wrist. This strikes Kim as rather rude, before she remembers that the woman inspecting her salad as though expecting to find razorblades amongst her lettuce leaves had once made a career out of blowing things up and vying for world domination.

"What's with the grin?"

Shego asks as she glances up from her plate.

"Nothing... I just... I know this isn't the _first_ time you and I have eaten together, but it never gets any less _weird_."

"Good thing too. I'd hate for it to become a habit."

Shego replies seriously, and Kim nods her agreement as she tries to catch the gooey strands of cheese spanning from the pizza slice in her hand to her lips with a slight flush of embarrassment. Cleaning herself up a little, she cocks her head to the side thoughtfully as she considers the darker woman's meal.

"You don't like chicken?"

"I'm vegetarian."

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

Kim frowns, unable to keep her surprise from her voice.

"Since when?!"

"Strictly, a couple of years. But I've always more or less tried to be that way."

"Huh..."

The younger woman considers this unlikely information.

"What of it? I wasn't when we knew each other back in the day out of sheer practicality. _You_ try being responsible for making sure a mad scientist and ten to twelve of his dipshit henchmen get fed. You think I was gonna go out of my way to source a couple of pounds of tofu and _argue_ with them about it!?"

"No, I just... okay, _a_ : never thought about you being in charge of the food sitch, which is both a little sexist and absolutely hilarious, and _b_ :... Well, being vegetarian's just not very _evil_ , is it...?"

"What would you propose? That us villains carve up raw steak while listening to heavy metal in a dark room?"

"Well... Yeah."

Kim shrugs, and Shego rolls her eyes as she picks at her salad primly before reminding the younger woman with a frown

"I'm not _evil_ , anyway. Not in the way you mean it. It was never _about_ that."

"It was about world domination."

"It was _about_ getting paid to visit expensive resorts and tropical islands with the added incentive of kicking your ass."

"I never knew you saw my ass as an incentive."

Kim quips smugly. It dawns on her a little too late that she is perhaps not quite comfortable with this breed of teasing, and when Shego simply raises a brow and stares her down, she looks away uncomfortably.

"Aw, don't pout, I _enjoyed_ our little scraps, Princess... Perhaps _that_ part _was_ evil. The rest... It just a job. And, if you'd kindly remember, I batted for the same side when it counted most."

Narrowing her eyes as she refuses to believe that this is just a slip of the darker woman's tongue, Kim decides to tackle her next slice of pizza with her knife and fork to retain a little dignity, and she chews thoughtfully before asking the question that has bothered her for the last few years.

"What _happened_ with that?"

"With what?"

"Well, I mean, the last time I saw you, you and Drakken had finally decided to become an item, and you were both on a world peace kick. You were being celebrated as the _good_ guys!... What happened?"

"What do you mean, _finally_?... What; me woman, him man, ergo we needed to _bone_ sooner or later?"

"... Your words, not mine."

"It was... A heat of the moment thing."

"Okay, do I _want_ to know?"

"Isn't that why you _asked_?... Look, I _like_ Dr D. For whatever dumb and fucked up reason, I do. I guess I can't use the classic line of 'he's a good guy' when talking about a self-proclaimed evil genius, but to _me_ , he was. He was good to me... I suppose he was also _terrified_ of me, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. We made a good team, and I guess in a manner of speaking, we made a good couple, as in, a couple of people. Don't forget, the dude's got like fifteen years on me and a couple of screws loose. In the nicest way possible, I'd hope I could do better!"

"... You could. You just both seemed _happy_ , and I thought-"

"-We were. For like a week. Then we faked it for a month or so. Not the _dating_ thing; that was all just kind of weird, and _believe_ me when I say nothing happened apart from a couple of very awkward meals where we felt like we had to be nice to each other; it was a _nightmare_... No, what I meant was becoming heroes overnight was thrilling for a little while- the not _dying_ probably had a part to play in that too- but it wasn't _us_... We tried. We _tried_ to be 'good'. Drakken tried to find a useful outlet for his inventions, and some of them even seemed vaguely _interesting,_ but his heart wasn't in any of it. I think his heart was with _me_ , which was unfortunate. I'm not going to get deeply into it- not with anyone, and _certainly_ not with _you_ \- but the short version is; he wanted something and I didn't. For a little while, I felt guilty, and then I realised that _really_ wasn't a good look for me, so I split."

"You couldn't just have talked to him?"

"No. Not in any way that would have made a difference... I didn't leave because of the lovey stuff; I could have beaten that out of him quicker than talking to him about it. I could have _handled_ it. No, it was more... If Dr D wasn't trying to take over the world, then he didn't need a sly, _ravishing_ fox laying the way for him and cleaning up his inevitable mess. If he was no longer an evil genius, then he no longer needed a partner in crime."

"A sidekick."

"Watch it, Princess... I might be sleep and _blood_ deprived, but I'd still have you flat on your back in a heartbeat."

"I doubt it."

"Whatever... Look, I just didn't want to be a lab-tech. I didn't want to just be some guy's _girlfriend_. I missed the way things were. Not the fuck ups and Drakken's incessant monologues, but I missed the excitement. I missed being _good_ at what I did... We _tried_ playing above board, and it didn't work. I split and hit up a couple of banks; sly work, nothing clumsy or thuggish. Drakken... I don't know. Last I heard from him he was working on some kind of ray; doom, death, who knows."

"What's the difference?"

"If you wanted to know _that_ you'd have to ask someone that actually paid attention... All _I_ paid attention to is the fact that nothing much seemed to be happening, and that my services, while perhaps still _wanted_ , were no longer required. So, we've just been doing our own thing; have been for a couple of years now."

Shego shrugs, and Kim frowns as she feels something a little like grief in her gut, as though she's walked in on her parents arguing. Pushing away _that_ crazy notion, she starts on her last slice of pizza and asks

"So how did you figure out Drakken was _missing_? And you mentioned Monkey Fist. Have you been working with any of the others?"

"No, I would never work with that ape."

"Monkey."

"Really... The guy's a furry megalomaniac, and you're going to challenge me on _semantics_?"

"It's in his name."

Kim shrugs.

"He doesn't have a _tail-_ that I've seen- but fine. I wouldn't work with him after our past grievances. I wouldn't work with _any_ of them."

"So then... How did you figure out something was wrong?"

"Just because I don't _work_ with them doesn't mean we don't stay in touch."

"What, on Facebook?"

Kim scoffs sarcastically.

"Whatsapp."

Shego replies simply.

"... You're kidding?"

"No. Don't _you_ still keep in contact with the buffoon and his hairless rat?"

"You _know_ his name, Shego, use it. And yeah, I do, but that's _different_!"

"How so?"

"Well, we aren't messaging each other from our secret _lairs_ to start off with!"

Kim points out, and Shego offers her a withering look as she places her knife and fork together on her plate.

"Nor are we, for the most part. I'm messaging from a nice apartment in Portland, where my neighbour drops me off a pot of chilli every couple of weeks, and I help with the maintenance of the communal garden area."

The darker woman informs silkily, enjoying the look of incomprehension on Kim's face, before continuing more seriously,

"Look, it's not like we have a group chat going where we're swapping recipes and holiday snaps. Those guys just like to keep in contact with each other as a lot of them don't have anyone else to talk to, and I guess I mostly just want to keep an eye on things... A couple of days without someone messaging the group wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Maybe a week, maybe even _two_... But it was _more_ than that. I started to look into it- just to see if I could reach out by other means- and for a while, I was in touch with Junior, who was in a _state_ as he couldn't get hold of his dad. I wasn't particularly interested, save for finding his inability to look after himself amusing, but then he just stopped replying, and that seemed odd. I mean, that kid would break an _ankle_ running to the phone if he thought I might be on the other end, and when he didn't even respond to my attempt to facetime... That was a red flag."

"Again with the modesty."

"I'm simply filling you in on the _facts_. If you don't like them, quit being so nosey."

"If you didn't want me to be _nosey_ , maybe you shouldn't have crashed my dorm with a gaping _hole_ in your head."

Kim snaps, although she feels a little guilty once the words are out of her mouth; watching as Shego's hand slips once more into her hair while the darker woman offers her an irritable glower.

A glower that strikes her as surprisingly miserable, and so she backs off and gestures that Shego should proceed with her story while she wipes her hands on her napkin.

"I couldn't get hold of any of the others; I couldn't get hold of the people like... me. Then, I got a call from Mego, saying no one had heard from my other brothers for a while. I talked to him, tried to calm him down, assured him he was getting upset over nothing, and promised to call him the next morning... No reply... So, by _this_ point, I'm kind of thinking something's off, and part of me refuses to get all caught up in superstition, but another part of me has literally _trained_ to be _suspicious_ at the very least... I told you back in your room that I didn't know what was going on, and that's true, but before I woke up in that shed, I had noticed _some_ things. There were cars I was seeing that I had never noticed before parking near my building. I'd see them later outside the gym, and I started out telling myself not to jump at shadows, but I learned long ago that sometimes shadows can jump back. _Literally_ in one case, but let's not talk about _that_ fucking device; what a birthday!... Anyway... I just started feeling something wasn't _right_. I started to feel, I don't know, _watched_ , I guess? It's happened before, about a year ago. I got clumsy with keeping up appearances, and I lost my keys to the apartment and before I knew it, I'd unleashed some of my frustration on one of the stupid little gnomes Number Six put next to the steps."

She wiggles her fingers pointedly, and Kim realises she's rarely seen Shego's hands without gloves. They look fairly ordinary given what they have the propensity to do, and the younger woman nods to indicate that she understands her meaning.

"One of the kids in the street saw, and I guess that, coupled with the skin, and he decided I was some kind of _monster_. He told his brother, or friend, or whatever. This bigger kid. Not really a _kid_ at all. Anyway, suddenly I have a bunch of guys sniffing after me, and not in the way I'd like... It was annoying, and a little worrying- I was uncertain if I'd have to move if I wanted to keep my cover and continue with some of my other... dealings- but nothing ever came of it... This felt a little like that, only I had no clue what might have started it, and it didn't sit well with me that I was suddenly without anyone to tell..."

"What dealings?"

"Never you _mind_ what dealings. That's not the story you're involved in."

"Shego..."

"Kimmie, what did you _expect_?! That I'd quit crime and become a nursery school teacher?!"

"...And a vegetarian with a pet cat and a penchant for gardening..."

"Shut up."

"No."

"Fine... The night before this all escalated wildly out of control and I woke up somewhere I shouldn't of, I was _certain_ someone had broken in."

"To yours?"

'Yeah. And, if they'd busted the lock or scratched up the door or broken a window, I would have done something, but... Everything was as I left it."

"So then how do you know someone broke in?"

"Kim... Come on. We might have chosen different sides, but we're cut from the same cloth, at least in terms of recognising a threat."

"Really? You were always warning me I should see _you_ as one, and yet... Nine times out of ten, I'd best you."

"It's sweet that you think that."

"It's cute you're too sore a loser to admit I'm right."

Kim shrugs, falling silent for a moment as their plates are whisked away, before offering her companion a wide smirk when she hands over her credit card without even asking to see the bill.

"Nice of you."

The younger woman teases quietly.

"You think? What about our relationship makes you think that's even my card?"

Shego challenges, chuckling when the younger woman's smile becomes an expression of horror, and shaking out her impressive mane.

"Relax, I'm fucking with you, Princess."

"... _Are_ you?"

"Yeah... Probably."

The darker woman grins, but it's a tired smile, and when she catches Kim watching her sign the receipt with a frown, she sighs.

"Don't look so _dubious_ , it's my name and my signature. Sorry it's not embellished with green _flames_ or whatever you were expecting."

"I reckon that might be for the best."

Kim smiles thinly, before elaborating on the cause of her drop in mood.

"I was just wondering what we do _now_. Now that you've told me all of this and dragged me into it... Whatever it is."

"... You don't believe me?"

"It's not _that_! Of course I believe you, shocking as that might seem to both you _and_ me... You butchered yourself pretty badly, and I _do_ think we should sort that out before you pick up something nasty. You wouldn't do that to trick me, and, honestly? I don't think buying me _pizza_ would be part of any scheme you might cook up either. Like you said, when we faced off against each other, I was a teenager. I was a kid. We ran around shooting lasers and flames at each other while Drakken and Ron scratched their heads about how we ended up in whatever mess we were in. I'm not a kid anymore, and you're not swanning around in eye-watering neon challenging me to a scrap in the dust over some botched invention. This isn't a situation I'm prepared for, because you showing up at this point in my _life_ isn't something I'd ever planned on happening, but... I'm not sure where that leaves us. I'm not sure how to _help_ you when you've come to me about some dodgy secret organisation where a group of men you don't know fucking _chipped_ you and knocked you around hard enough to _mark_. We _never_ did that, not if we could help it."

"No... Which, _believe_ me, was _hard_ sometimes given your insufferable persona, but, none of us was the kind of evil that beat on little girls. We made them _cry_ , sure, and Dr D and I would often make bets on if we could make your little friend scream-"

"-Hey..."

"But I never aimed for the _face_ , and I never picked up a weapon I thought would, you know... _Work_. Not with any sort of finality, anyway."

"No... You just tried to drown me in a vat of _cheese_ and tied me to plinths in front of death rays. _Multiple_ death rays."

"Kinky, huh?"

"Oh god."

Kim shudders with a grin. Glancing out the window, she sighs and beckons for the darker woman to follow her out onto the pier. Walking side by side, she leads them back towards campus.

"You know, before _you_ rocked up, I was worried about an English test..."

"Pleased to help take your mind off of it."

Shego smirks without much humour.

"Oh, you've done _that_!... But like I said, I don't know how to _help_ you with this. This sounds like the _big_ league."

"Well... You're no longer a kid."

"I-"

"-And, honestly, Kim... The reason I came to _you_? You're the _only_ person I know who could help with this. Your whole 'saving the world' career _primed_ you for helping with this... If I go to the police, not only am I going to tell them a story they're not going to believe or know how the fuck to handle, they're also going to turn it around on _me_ before I even get a chance to finish."

"They might not..."

"Yeah, and if you _believed_ that, you'd look me in the eye when saying it... You _know_ how it would look just as well as I do. A convicted criminal with an impressive rap sheet running to them for help because she can't find any of her convict friends?"

"Your brothers aren't-"

"-My brothers are _freaks_. That's what they think but don't say where I'm from, and that's what the police will think and _probably_ say when I tell them they're missing."

"Shego, you don't _know_ that. You-"

"-No, you're right, I don't. I _also_ don't know conclusively that the others disappearing off the face of the earth has anything to do with waking up drugged and tied up in some shed in the middle nowhere, but I'm going to go out on a _limb_ with that, just as I am with this: if I go to the police, nothing _good_ will come of it for me. I'll end up either in jail, or the nuthouse. Neither place is anywhere I want to bring in Christmas, and _either_ place offers up a very handy exact location for any potential 'extraction' team."

"That's crazy... An _extraction_ team? _Really_? You think this operation is _that_ shady?"

"What do _you_ think?"

Shego snaps, pulling her hair back to show off the mutilated flesh behind her ear. Kim winces as she spies a track made by fresh blood smeared down the darker woman's neck and soaking the collar of her sweater.

"I think it's crazy."

She reiterates.

"You think I'm crazy?"

"No. Not _you_... Unfortunately not. But, the idea of getting involved in something like this when I have assignments and book reports to worry about, and a new cheer routine to learn... _That's_ crazy. I never planned on getting mixed up in the whole battle between good and evil ever _again_."

"And _I_ never planned on admitting I might need you, pumpkin, but here we are... What you do is _your_ call, but I'd ask that you make it _fast_ , because I need to start looking at other options if you decide to bow out."

Shego urges, and Kim feels a flash of irritation as it's on the tip of her tongue to tell the darker woman that she hardly sees this as _fair_ , before she considers the bruising to her cheek and the graze to her jaw- _plus, the fact that it probably took every ounce of her humility to track me down in the first place_ \- and lets her frustration fade. After all, if even _half_ of what Shego has said is true- and she has no reason to think otherwise- then the older woman is right; she needs to come up with a better plan than barging into a college dorm while her cat- _her cat!_ \- spends an impromptu vacation in a kennel.

"I have _school_ , Shego... I have _class_ I have to be at tomorrow."

"... Okay... Okay, I understand."

"No, let me finish, you don't... I _meant_ I'd need to figure out how I go about taking a couple of personal days. I... I don't _want_ in on this, but _damn_ it, I guess it's how I'm wired."

"Sweet little Kimmie; always set on saving the world."

"Yeah, I mean, I've done it before, right? It usually takes what? A couple of days?"

Kim shrugs nonchalantly, but her eyes belie that she's not buying her own story, and she's nervous.

"I don't think it's going to be like old times, princess."

Shego warns quietly.

"Well, no... I mean, _now_ all I'm really trying to do is save your ass."

"And, we're back to my ass."

The darker woman grins wearily.

"Let's _start_ with your ear."

Kim reasons in a similarly grim voice.

"My ear?"

"Well, more specifically, the great big _hole_ you've made behind it... I guess we should take a trip to see my folks. My mom can sort out your botched self-surgery, and I'll see if there's anything left in my room that might be useful... You know, to sort this all out, no sweat."

She grins, showing a lot of teeth, and Shego reciprocates with a wry twitch of her lips.

"No sweat."

She agrees, allowing Kim to lead them the rest of the way back to the house.

"Do you want to wait out here while I go and pack some things?"

The younger woman asks.

"What, worried about me meeting your little friends?"

"Well..."

"... Go pack. I'll pull the car around front."


End file.
